Alaska — (Business Wire) A new evidence-gathering tool will allow law enforcement officials to interact, send, receive, analyze, store, and share evidence across 13 criminal division offices thanks to NICE. NICE is a new AI powered platform that recognizes faces, and finds evidence connections, as well as video and audio transcriptions. “With digital evidence growing rapidly, the criminal justice system has reached a breaking point. Our AI-powered NICE Justice platform is helping prosecutors seek out the truth and achieve timelier justice through automation,” said Director Angie Kemp of the Alaska Department of Law Criminal Division.
Louisiana — (Channel 9 WAFB) A new web system called Commons was created by the non-profit Measures of Justice. It has been launched in East Baton Rouge to help improve transparency and accountability within the criminal justice system. Dianna Payton, CEO of YWCA Greater Baton Rouge, serves on the DA’s Community Advisory Board. “We have to be open, honest and transparent,” said Payton. “It’s the only way to bring our city together, to bring our community together, and actually make a change in and address and strengthen our criminal justice system.”
Tennessee — (Tennessee State Court Website) Legal representation in courtrooms is becoming a struggle as the pool of attorneys dwindles under the low reimbursement rates. In 2017, a task force studied these rates of pay and found them to be inadequate. “Court proceedings can’t happen without court-appointed attorneys, but attorneys can’t afford to take cases at the current rates,” said Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Kirby. The Administrative Office of the Courts will request a significant budget increase for fiscal year 2024-25, for attorneys’ hourly rates.
Florida — (Axios Tampa Bay) Florida law allows terminally ill people, and those who are permanently incapacitated, to be considered for release. But one former lawmaker would like Florida to consider age as a condition for freedom. “We have to do better in creating pathways for inmates to reenter society,” said former St. Petersburg lawmaker, Jeff Brandes. “We can’t just lock everybody up forever. That’s not sustainable.” The number of people being sent to prison in Florida has not increased, however, the aging population is still rising among those currently incarcerated.
Virginia — (The New York Times) Following his release after serving 13 years in prison, George Hawkins was denied his request to vote, twice. In Virginia, the state constitution gives the governor discretion over restoring voting rights. Responding to a lawsuit filed on Hawkins’ behalf by The Fair Elections Center, a federal judge disagreed, noting that Hawkins has been unjustly silenced. Being denied the vote, Hawkins said, “is like saying my sentence ain’t enough.”
Maryland — (The Washington Post) Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown took a tour of the state’s barber shops to host town hall-style meetings about incarceration. Brown, alongside local advocates and community leaders, spoke to patrons about the mass incarceration of Black men. Natasha Dartigue, head of the Public Defender’s office in Maryland, said, “We as a country, and Maryland as a state, have engaged in decades upon decades of incarcerating individuals, tearing apart families and crushing communities. … Disproportionate arrests, convictions and sentences have devastated families and communities of color throughout Maryland.” Brown and Dartigue created the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative to reduce racial disproportionality in prisons.
Washington D.C. — (Forbes) DC Superior court judges can now consider whether a person is eligible to be released based on compassionate release amendments that went into effect November 2023. These include additional subcategories of medical circumstances of the defendant, modifications in family circumstances, and two new grounds called “Victim of Abuse” and “Unusually Long Sentence.” All the amendments “[permit] a judge to consider a non-retroactive change in sentencing law as an extraordinary and compelling reason in specified circumstances.”
Massachusetts — (The Commonwealth of Massachusetts — Press Release) Groundbreaking executive clemency guidelines were released for petitioners seeking pardons and commutations. The guidelines address unfairness and biases in the criminal justice system. “Executive clemency has the power … to make our state fairer and more equitable,” said Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll. The guidelines will look at factors such as age, sexual identity, and the following three principles: addressing unfairness in the criminal justice system, ensuring accountability with compassion, and considering the character and behavior, particularly post-offense behavior, of the petitioner. New York — (Bloomberg) Formerly incarcerated people are receiving much needed services. A new initiative called Court Navigators connects those arrested in Manhattan with mental illness and substance use disorders to social workers with similar life experiences. The aim is to reduce recidivism. “The best way to address the root drivers of crime and violence is to connect people with the services they need to lead healthy and stable lives, including housing, health care and job opportunities,” said District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The funds are from banks that violated US sanctions, according to a statement from Bragg’s office.
